TO CREATE A WEATHER BALLOON PAYLOAD AND WEATHER DATA VISUALIZATIONS

Challenge Closed

Kindergarten to 8th Grade Only Challenge

If you are a K-8 student in the United States, your challenge is to design a weather balloon payload for Future Engineers to launch in Los Angeles, CA. First: Using historical data, create 2-3 data visualizations that explain Los Angeles weather and/or climate, including average annual temperatures in Los Angeles for the past 20 years. Second: Using recycled materials and our “paper and penny” mockup components, design a payload that can hang from a helium weather balloon and survive an 8 foot drop test. Your entry must include images (up to 6), a title, and a text description. Be sure to review the CONTEST RULES and DESIGN GUIDELINES for all challenge details and specifications. If you win, we will launch your design and you will also get a weather balloon supply kit! Start thinking lofty ... and good luck!

LEARN ABOUT THE CHALLENGE

Students will learn all about weather! From the water cycle to air pressure, to fronts and weather maps, and then onto weather data and making data visualizations. Students will also learn local climate factors and what makes each city's weather so unique.

Educator tools

Links

Lessons

Brainstorming Idea

LAUNCH CONDITIONS

During your weather balloon ascent, what kind of environment will it travel through?

Is it hot or cold? Humid or dry? Windy or not?

During the descent, what will your payload encounter? Upon landing, where could it land? You DO NOT need to account for an ocean landing. Future Engineers will not launch with an offshore wind. Nor will we launch in rain!

Brainstorming Idea

WEIGHT

A weather balloon payload (including your mockups) can be no more than 4 lbs (1814g).

What kinds of designs will make sure the payload stays with in the 4 pound limit?

Brainstorming Idea

STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY

Your payload needs to hold all components (nothing should fall off), be sturdy during flight (not flop around), and survive the landing back to Earth.

How can your payload design be lightweight, strong, and survive impact? DO NOT create a second parachute.

Brainstorming Idea

BALANCE & ORIENTATION

Is balance important to your payload build? If so, how will you attain it? If not, how will it not being balanced benefit your build?

Remember that the temperature sensor (flight computer) needs to take data and the camera needs to shoot video!

Brainstorming Idea

MATERIALS

To build your payload, you may use any recycled material listed in the Los Angeles Blue Bin Recycling page with any fasteners, string, tape, or adhesive you choose.

What materials do you think would work best for your payload build?

Brainstorming Idea

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Weather balloons are not always recovered. If we were unable to recover your payload, what impact would it have on the environment?

Build & Iterate

In the last phase of the engineering design process, students will build, refine, and iterate their weather balloon payload design. To simulate the landing back to Earth, they will see if their payload can survive a drop test from 8 feet.

An education program for
the Innovators of Tomorrow

Future Engineers hosts online innovation challenges for K-12 students. In 2014, Future Engineers launched its inaugural 3D printing in space challenge, sponsored by the ASME Foundation with technical assistance from NASA, which produced historic achievements including the first student-designed 3D print in space. Based on that success, and through the support of the U.S. Department of Education's SBIR Program, Future Engineers launched a multi-challenge platform in 2018 capable of hosting STEAM challenges of all kinds, including our first Weather Balloon Challenge. All challenges are free for student/classroom participation.